ROUNDS with 
the DEVIL 


or 


CUSTOMS and 
AMUSEMENTS 



ALBERT HARRISON CROMBIE 
Evangelist 

1422 Cheyenne Ave., Grand Forks, N. D. 


GLAD TIDINGS PUBLISHING CO. 

202 S. Clark Street, Chicago, III. 










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ALBERT HARRISON CROMBIE, EVANGELIST 














ROUNDS with 
the DEVIL 


============== or ======= 

CUSTOMS and 
AMUSEMENTS 



ALBERT HARRISON CROMBIE 

frt 

Evangelist 

1422 Cheyenne Ave., Grand Forks, N. D. 


GLAD TIDINGS PUBLISHING CO. 

202 S. Clark Street, Chicago, Ill. 












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IT IS WITH PLEASURE THAT I DEDICATE 
THIS NEW BOOK TO MY ONLY SISTER, 
VENUS SNELL CROMBIE, WHO HAS BEEN, 
UNCONSCIOUSLY, MY IDEAL OF YOUNG 
WOMANHOOD AND WHOSE SWEET INFLU¬ 
ENCE HAS GIVEN ME AN ADDED INCEN¬ 
TIVE TO DELIVER THIS MESSAGE IN MY 
CAMPAIGNS IN SUCH A MANNER THAT 
OTHER YOUNG PEOPLE MIGHT SEE THE 
FOLLY OF A LIFE WASTED IN IDLE AND 
DANGEROUS AMUSEMENT, AND, THE 
BEAUTY OF A CLEAN, WHOLESOME LIFE 
OF CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE. 

THE AUTHOR. 





Note: 

This material was copyrighted in 
September 1920 as a manuscript and 
again in February 1921 as a book. No 
part of it can be legally used either as 
a quotation on the platform or in print 
without first securing the consent of 
the Author. 

Copyrighted, 1920, by Albert Harrison Crombie. 

Copyrighted, 1921, by Albert Harrison Crombie. 


Rounds With The Devil 


1 Thessalonians 5 : 21—“Prove all 
things, hold fast that which is good.” 

Evangelists are frequently asked 
questions that deal with popular cus¬ 
toms and amusements. These ques¬ 
tions come from three classes of people 
and for three separate and distinct rea¬ 
sons. Some people ask these questions 
because they seek the truth. They are 
the thotful people; those who are in the 
habit of studying human actions. It is 
a pleasure to discuss these matters with 
such. We hope that the majority of 
you who are here tonight are in that 
class. There are some, however, who 
ask us such questions because they 
think that in doing so they cause us to 
be embarrassed. They are the human 
nothings of the Universe, those whose 
brains, if placed in the shell covering 
of a mustard seed would have as much 
room to rattle around as does a BB 
shot in an empty rain barrel. It is our 
duty to talk to such. Judging from 


BOUNDS WITH THE DETTL 


outward appearances we would say 
that you people look sensible to us. 
Perhaps these questions come to us 
more frequently from people who are 
dissatisfied with their daily life than 
from all other classes combined. This 
class is largely composed of professing 
Christians who are habitually doing 
something that is condemned by their 
conscience, the Church and thinking 
people and who believe that peace of 
mind could be obtained if the Evangel¬ 
ist were to sanction such actions. They 
are the most hopeful and at the same 
time the most unhappy people. It is 
always a good sign when your con¬ 
science talks to you—it shows that you 
are not in as bad a spiritual condition 
as those whose conscience is dead. God 
knows that the professing Christian 
who does not live the life of a separated 
Christian is “of all men most misera¬ 
ble.” It is a favor indeed to be allowed 
to talk to such people because we know 
that they are the “good ground” and if 
seed is properly planted therein, a rich 
harvest will result. 



BOUNDS WITH THE DETTL 


7 


We trust, however, that you whom 
we now face, have succeeded in settling 
these matters thru your confession and 
forsaking of the wrong and are now 
here only to add your influence to the 
forces aligned against evil; but, if you 
are undetermined as to which road to 
follow in the future, it is our earnest 
prayer that we may be able by ^he grace 
of God to show you the sign posts that 
mark the pathway that the Savior trod 
and which you must follow if you are 
to obtain peace of nr nd here and your 
reward in the hereafter. Be much in 
the spirit of prayer, friend, and God 
will show you the right thing to do. 
And, above everything else, resolve to 
accept the leading of the Spirit. It will 
not be enuf for you to realize tonight 
at the close of this service that you 
should forsake your sin—you must ac¬ 
tually do that thing—or you will be no 
more happy tomorrow than you now 
are. 

In our discussion tonight of some 
common customs and types of amuse¬ 
ment there are certain fundamental 



8 


BOOTHS WITH THE DEVIL 


principles that must be laid down and 
kept in mind. First of all, we must un¬ 
derstand that in discussing such a sub¬ 
ject (or in fact, any subject) we must 
differentiate between the saved and the 
unsaved. There are, in the last analy¬ 
sis, just two classes of people in the 
World; those who have accepted Jesus 
Christ, God’s Son, as their Savior and 
are therefore Christians, and, those 
who have never confessed their sin to 
God and cried unto Him for forgive¬ 
ness and are still unsaved. God has 
ordained it that the unsaved are always 
under the law, whereas the Christian is 
under a much stronger force than the 
law, namely, the principle of love. Law 
for the unsaved; grace for the saved 
as a means of thot and action control. 
“Thou shalt not,” for the unsaved and, 
“If ye love Me keep My command¬ 
ments,” for the saved. Because it is 
true that selfishness is the fundamental 
principle of sin, God does not expect 
the unsaved to act as do those who have 
been born again, altho He desires all 
men to come to a knowledge of the 



BOUITOS WITH THE DEVIL 


9 


truth, knowing that the truth makes 
men free. Therefore, if you are un¬ 
saved tonight, the best that you can do 
is think of yourself, and, if convinced 
that any common custom or popular 
amusement is liable to be detrimental 
to your own life, give it up. You owe 
it to yourself, if to no one else, to do 
the right thing. If however; you are 
a Christian, you will be required to not 
only think seriously of the effect of the 
common customs and forms of amuse¬ 
ment upon your own life, but will be 
expected to think of your influence up¬ 
on the lives of others as you do daily 
those things that are unwise. You must 
take into consideration the power of 
personal influence. Furthermore, you 
must ask yourself the question: “Am I 
glorifying the Christ who died to save 
me, when I do these things?” for, it is 
your duty, above everything else, to 
“glorify your Father who is in Heav¬ 
en.” We cannot tell by outward ap¬ 
pearances whether a tree will produce 
seedless oranges or those with seeds, 
for the exterior appearance of both 



10 


ROUNDS WITH THE DEYEL 


species is much alike. Neither can we 
tell, in certain stages of development, 
whether the thing we see is a field of 
tares or of wheat. And, it is impos¬ 
sible for us to decide whether or not 
you people as individuals are Chris¬ 
tians; so that it devolves upon each of 
you as an individual to apply that por¬ 
tion of truth that is applicable to your 
state and condition. You know whether 
or not you are saved—be guided by 
that truth that is for you. 

Secondly; we must realize that the 
laws of cause and effect are insepar¬ 
able ; that wherever a bad effect results 
from any action that action as the cause 
of the effect must have been bad. Vice 
versa, we must remember that if any 
cause is bad, nothing but bad results 
can accrue from it. Like begets like 
in every case by Divine ordination. 
Therefore, if it is proven tonight that 
the general effect of any common cus¬ 
tom or form of amusement under dis¬ 
cussion is bad, then that bad effect 
must in every case be attributed to that 



ROUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


11 


common custom or form of amuse¬ 
ment. 

Thirdly; we ask that you give us 
your close and undivided and unpreju¬ 
diced attention. You must listen to us 
tonight with minds open for conviction, 
knowing that “A mind settled in an at¬ 
titude of unbelief rejects all evidence.” 
You must think! You can lead a horse 
to water but you can’t make him drink 
and you can preach to people but you 
can’t make them think! To preach is 
our part but you must think with us. 

Fourthly; we are aware of the fact 
that we are going to be accused of be¬ 
ing narrow in belief. We cannot help 
that. We are narrow. So is the road 
to Heaven, if Jesus knew what He was 
talking about! And, He did know! 

Our text is a good one for tonight 
because it is in accord with present day 
practices. When you are sick and the 
Doctor calls on you the first thing he 
does is say: “Put out your tongue, 
please.” He wants to examine all 
things and so, beginning with the big¬ 
gest, with microscope, stethoscope, and 



12 


BOUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


thermometer, with much pounding and 
thumping, he finally succeeds in locat¬ 
ing the trouble and in discovering the 
amount of money in your pocketbook. 
He proves all things. Every large fac¬ 
tory is equipped with testing devices of 
all kinds suitable to the business so that 
each piece of material that enters into 
the finished product is known to be sat¬ 
isfactory. The factories prove all 
things. Before the modern agricultur¬ 
ist (who used to be called a hayseed or 
a farmer) plants his corn crop in the 
Spring, he takes samples of his corn 
and plants them in a germinating de¬ 
vice in order to ascertain as to whether 
or not his seed is fertile enuf for plant¬ 
ing. He too, proves all things. That 
which is applicable in physical life, 
commercial life and natural life is also, 
in many cases, applicable in moral life. 
Such is the case with our subject. It 
is for this reason that we have chosen 
the words of the Apostle Paul for our 
text tonight: “Prove all things; hold 
fast that which is good.” And; having 
answered advance questions and laid 



ROUjNDS with the devil 


18 


down certain principles—having figur¬ 
atively donned the boxing gloves for a 
round or two with the devil—let us 
tackle him right now by asking and 
answering as our first question: 

IS IT WRONG TO DRESS FASH¬ 
IONABLY? 

You laugh! Why do you laugh? 
Fashionable dressing is one of the com¬ 
mon customs of the day. In answering 
this question we must say that it all de¬ 
pends upon the meaning of the word 
“fashionably.” The word is hard to de¬ 
fine for fashions depend usually upon 
the waist line and that line varies so 
much in location that it surely must be 
the fourth dimension mathematicians 
talk about! Sometimes it is up around 
the neck, sometimes under the arms, 
sometimes around the ankles and some¬ 
times you can’t see it at all! In an¬ 
swering the question, therefore, we 
must use another word and can state 
that it is not wrong to dress fashionably 
if at the , same time you are dressed 
modestly. 



14 


ROUNDS WITH THE DETIL 


The tendency seems to be to dress 
fashionably without regard to modesty. 
A walk along Fifth Avenue in New 
York, Michigan Boulevard in Chicago, 
Main Street in Podunkville, or an ex¬ 
amination of any of the style cata¬ 
logues of the mail order houses will ver¬ 
ify our statement. The main idea in 
the modern fashionable dress seems to 
be that everything should be covered 
but nothing concealed. Fashionable 
dressers wear half hose showing that 
they are only “half there” in the head, 
also! They wear peek-a-boo waists 
commonly and in some instances the 
most fashionable do not wear waists at 
all but are satisfied with a picture 
painted upon the bare back! Surely 
the poet was right when he said: “Little 
dabs of powder, little daubs of paint; 
make a woman look like, what she 
really ain’t!” Short skirts are fashion¬ 
able altho it is true that as the skirt 
goes up, the standard of morality goes 
down. Some skirts, those! Those 
fashionable balloon shaped hobble 
skirts remind us of the story we heard 



ROUNDS WITH THE DETIL 


15 


of the sweet young thing who hobbled 
up to a Chicago policeman and asked 
him how she could get to a certain ad¬ 
dress the quickest way if she walked. 
The cop looked at her fashionable skirt 
and said: “Sister, the quickest way for 
you to get there if you are going to 
walk, is to first go home and change 
your skirt.” Clinging, one piece, sil¬ 
houette dresses, worn over the naked 
figure are very fashionable in some 
quarters. When silk costs seventeen 
dollars per yard you can buy enuf of 
the material for twelve cents to make a 
dress like that! An American Indian 
would turn black with horror if com¬ 
pelled to dress as do her so-called fash¬ 
ionable White sisters and an African 
Hottentot would for modesty’s sake 
jump into the lake and say, “Here goes 
nothing.” There is practically no dif¬ 
ference between the dress of the four 
hundred and the street walker and it is 
time that you women learn to take 
down the sign if you are not in the busi¬ 
ness. No wonder that women report to 
their husbands that they were accosted 



16 


ROUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


on the streets by strange men. “There’s 
a reason.” For God’s sake, for man’s 
sake, for your own sake, learn to dress 
modestly. You are to blame for the 
double standard of morality; you dress 
so as to appeal to the animal passions 
of men and then organize clubs to con¬ 
demn the men and forget that you are 
the cause of the wave of prostitution 
that is sweeping our Nation from ocean 
to ocean. Prove all things; hold fast 
that which is good. Discard the fash¬ 
ionable, don the modest, for you are 
not what you should be. You are dis¬ 
gracing your Mother’s modesty. Styles, 
fashions, forms change but modesty 
ever remains the same—the crowning 
gift of God to womankind. 

Just a word about paint and powder. 
We believe that it is right to use paint. 
It has its uses—on barns and bridges 
but was never made to adorn the faces 
of human beings. Get out into God’s 
sunshine; breathe the early morning 
air; exercise in the open; eat whole¬ 
some food; think clean thoughts; go to 
bed early and the result will be a color 



BOUNDS WITH THE DETIL 


17 


in the cheek and a lustre in the eye that 
as far exceeds the beauty of the rouge 
tinted “doll” as does the genuine dia¬ 
mond the paste jewel. It seems that 
there can be no harm in a judicious use 
of powder. Powder so that it does not 
show; do not appear in public as tho 
you had been white washed or had acci¬ 
dentally fallen head foremost into the 
flour barrel. Use common sense with 
your powder if you must use powder; it 
makes a good mixture. There is one 
common custom about powdering that 
disgusts us. It is to see some girl walk¬ 
ing along the street, suddenly stop, 
open up her little vanity case and in 
plain view of the public, daub her petite 
nose with powder in much the same 
way as a duckling primps after a bath 
in a mud puddle! You look silly when 
you do it and you are silly. Be sensi¬ 
ble. “Whatsoever you do, do to the 
glory of God.” Prove all things; hold 
fast that which is good. 

The next question for our considera¬ 
tion is: 



18 


BOUNDS WITH THE DEVIL 


IS IT WRONG TO PLAY CARDS? 

This question can best be answered 
in one word, yes. The card pack is the 
devil’s Bible. Ever since cards were 
invented by a criminal to amuse the 
imbecile son of a King, men have been 
led downward by them and our peni¬ 
tentiaries and prisons are filled today 
with those whose downfall can be 
traced; definitely to the card table. It 
makes no difference whether you play 
cards in your own home, a friend’s 
home, a club, a Church building or a 
brothel, you are doing wrong. Cards 
are the recognized means in the game of 
chance. Most of the gambling is done 
today with the card pack. It is true 
that people can gamble with checkers 
and chess but the fact remains that it is 
not a common practice. When men 
want to gamble they turn naturally to 
the filthy deck. 

Card playing wastes brain power, 
time and talent that should otherwise 
be employed. If you are a professing 
Christian, we ask you: “How can you 



BOUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


19 


spend so much of your time playing 
friendly games of cards when multi¬ 
tudes around you are crying for the 
Gospel story of Jesus ?” There is one 
sure thing about it, friend, if you are a 
card player you are not a Bible reader 
or a prayer meeting leader that 
amounts to anything. We venture that 
you read mail order catalogues more 
than you do your Bible and that a long 
handled broom would sweep most of 
your prayers from the Church ceiling. 

You say that you play cards in your 
Church building; that your Church 
sanctions card playing. Sure, so does 
the devil sanction it and is satisfied 
wherever you play! He is interested 
in results, not in methods. It is just as 
much of a crime before God for you to 
win a booby prize at a Church or soci¬ 
ety card party as to fleece a fellow man 
out of a thousand dollars in the back 
room of some nearby pool hall. And 
by the way, we have no more use for 
the modern pool hall than we had for 
the old fashioned saloon. Pool halls 



20 


ROUNDS WITH THE DETIL 


are inventions of the devil and in them 
two million young men of America 
waste their time playing five million 
games of pool each day and waste in 
addition to their time, money that 
should be either saved for the future or 
spent for the necessities of life. Chris¬ 
tians are opposed to pool halls, too. If 
you want to be a criminal, for God’s 
sake be a brave one; go out and with a 
sand bag, hit some one over the head 
and then pick his pocket in broad day¬ 
light ; don’t wait to do it over a club or 
Church or family card table. 

A card playing woman is a menace 
to decent society. Such creatures usu¬ 
ally fondle dogs instead of children and 
are more afraid of dishwater than the 
devil is of holy water. You say you 
belong to society. Yes, you do, you 
belong to sassiety where there is more 
sass than sense! 

Someone says: ‘Well, my boy will 
learn some place and will play cards 
somewhere, so I let him play at home 
with his friends where I can watch him.’ 



BOUNDS WITH THE DEVIL 


You are entitled to a leather medal for 
making an excuse like that! Prove all 
things; friend! If you have no more 
control over your family than that, 
then may God have mercy on your 
children. If your boy told you that he 
felt as though he should commit adul¬ 
tery because his friends were doing so, 
we suppose that you would bring a 
prostitute into your home! Be sensible, 
be reasonable! It is your duty to do 
right regardless of what any one else 
does and if your children disobey you 
and do play cards outside of your home, 
you can at least pray for them. That is 
more than you can do when you play 
with them. Put your foot down; show 
your parental authority; reason with 
your family and then, if your children 
deliberately disobey you, remember 
that you are guiltless before God. 
“ Spare the rod and spoil the child” is as 
true today as ever. Spank that young 
son of yours if you have to and don’t 
do it on a full stomach—turn him over. 
Card players do not succeed as soul 
winners. Prove all things; hold fast 



22 


BOUNDS WITH THE DEVIL 


that which is good. 

We noticed some of you men laugh¬ 
ing when we were talking to the ladies 
about fashions. Perhaps this next 
question will not provide as much 
amusement for you. It is: 

IS IT WRONG TO USE TO- 
BACCO? 

Yes it is wrong and it makes no dif¬ 
ference who you are. It is wrong be¬ 
cause it is physically wrong. One 
pound of ordinary tobacco contains 
three hundred and twenty grains of 
nicotine and it is a well attested fact 
that three grains of nicotine will kill a 
cat. And, don’t forget that a cat has 
nine lives! Therefore, taking these 
figures as a basis, if you use tobacco in 
any form, all you have to do is write 
down the amount of tobacco you use 
each day and figure out what cat power 
you are and you will be able to tell ex¬ 
actly when your wife will have to call 
the undertaker and put on mourning 
weeds! Tobacco is a deadly poison. Its 



BOUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


23 


effect upon the heart is most disastrous. 
The pulse of a tobacco user beats sev¬ 
enteen times per minute faster than 
that of an ordinary man. What does 
that mean? Only that the most vital 
organ in the human body must take 
twenty-four thousand extra beats per 
day in order to keep the blood flowing. 
It is for this reason that all leading life 
insurance companies instruct their ex¬ 
amining Physicians to ascertain the 
amount of tobacco the applicant uses 
and many companies reject habitual 
users of the weed. Can you as a pro¬ 
fessing Christian longer continue to 
use that which is abusive to the body, 
knowing that your body is the dwelling 
place of The Holy Spirit of God? 

Tobacco is so filthy and its use so un¬ 
natural that hogs won’t eat it, cows do 
not chew it and monkeys have to be 
compelled to taste it! In fact, the only 
animal that will use it at all is the goat 
but he also eats tin cans and circus 
posters! It must be nice for a wife to 
have to receive a kiss from her Lord 



EOUITDS WITH THE DEVIL 


and Master whose long moustache leaks 
tobacco juice in streams like an eave 
trough after a summer shower! A girl 
who keeps company with a tobacco 
user now will have no right to refuse 
to clean spittoons for him later! Think, 
girls! A tobacco user does not smell 
bad—he stinks. A skunk was once up¬ 
on a time under an old barn. Several 
boys were unsuccessful in their at¬ 
tempts to get him out. But as soon as 
a cigarette smoker crawled in under the 
barn, the skunk came out, wabbled 
around for a moment or two and then 
died. No, he was not shot! The odor 
of the cigarette was too much for him! 

Tobacco is a deadly poison to bugs 
and practically all insecticides are com¬ 
posed chiefly of it. If you call yourself 
a Christian and use tobacco, you are a 
humbug and you will find that it will 
be the death of your Spirituality and 
Christian influence. There is one crea¬ 
ture in addition to man that uses tobac¬ 
co. It is that long, green, crawling, 
thousand-legged, slimy, smooth, slip- 



BOUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


25 


pery worm of the Southland. He eats 
it because he likes it! 

It may be possible for a tobacco user 
to be a Christian but if he is, he is as 
Sam Jones once said “a dirty one” and 
we think that he will have to go to hell 
to spit if he ever tries to use it in heav¬ 
en. The use of tobacco is contrary to the 
Divine plan, for, if the Almighty had 
planned for man to use tobacco we 
would have been born with smoke¬ 
stacks on the sides of our heads and 
spittoons hanging under our chins! 
Prove all things; hold fast that which 
is good. 

The cigarette is the most dangerous 
form in which tobacco may be used. 
Every cigarette contains five kinds of 
poison. One in the wrapper, one in the 
flavor and the other three are nicotine, 
saltpetre and opium. The same ingred¬ 
ients go into the ordinary cigarette that 
the undertaker uses in embalming the 
dead. It is for that reason that they are 
rightfully called “coffin nails.” There 
is nothing more ridiculous in God’s 



26 


BOUNDS WITH THE DEYEL 


universe to look upon than a College 
student walking along the street puff¬ 
ing a cigarette, for cigarettes kill the 
very nerve cells in the human brain 
that produce thought. Cigarettes and 
brains do not go together. The best 
definition of a cigarette that we know 
is, “It is a little piece of paper with a 
little bit of tobacco rolled up in it, with 
a little fire at one end and a little fool 
at the other.” As loyal American citi¬ 
zens, true to the flag and God, we must 
state that we feel humiliated and dis¬ 
graced every time we see a man in the 
Army uniform or in Naval garb with a 
cigarette between his lips. Is it not 
possible for our Soldiers and Sailors to 
be clean, manly men—men who set the 
highest standard for others—men 
whose very appearance of cleanliness 
brings forth a cheer of approval from 
the thinking people of America? Cigar¬ 
ette smoking should be prohibited by 
the United States Government, at least 
so far as the Soldiers and Sailors are 
concerned; and we are proud to state 
that we are from North Dakota where 



ROUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


27 


Constitutional prohibition has always 
been in force and where it is a crime to 
sell cigarettes or to give cigarette pa¬ 
pers away. Take off your hat to the 
best State in the Union. Thank you! 

The use of tobacco is wrong because 
it is financially wrong. One billion, 
two hundred millions of dollars are 
spent annually for tobacco in its varied 
forms in the United States and yet 
some so-called Christians declared that 
the Church of Jesus Christ was asking 
for too much money in the Inter- 
Church drive when she asked for only 
three hundred and thirty-seven million, 
which is only one-third of the amount 
spent yearly for tobacco in the United 
States and the money for the Church 
was to cover a period of five years. Let 
me repeat it, let me quote these facts 
again which deal with sums of money 
so stupendous that they baffle human 
thought and imagination. One billion, 
two hundred millions of dollars are 
spent annually for tobacco in its varied 
forms in the United States and yet 



28 


ROUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


some so called Christians declared that 
the Church of Jesus Christ was asking 
too much when she asked for three hun¬ 
dred and thirty-seven million dollars in 
the Inter-Church drive. Remember 
that the amount asked by the Church of 
the Living God in that drive was only 
one-third of the sum spent for tobacco 
in the United States every year and 
that the money for the Church was to 
cover a period of five years—not one 
year! Think of it! Citizens of the 
United States spending enough money 
each year for tobacco to support the 
whole Protestant Church of America, 
including her foreign mission activities, 
for a period of fifteen years! And yet, 
you ask, “Is it wrong to use tobacco ?” 
Every crossroads corner in the United 
States seems to contain a poster adver¬ 
tising some form of tobacco. The 
money spent each year in advertising 
tobacco is sufficient to carry the Gospel 
of Jesus Christ to every tribe of people 
in God’s great world, and yet you ask, 
“Is it wrong to use tobacco?” For 
a real Christian there can be but one 



BOUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


answer—Yes, and if you are a real 
Christian, the right kind of an one, you 
will not even sell it in your place of 
business or handle it in any way. You 
will have absolutely nothing to do with 
it. 

It is the boast of the tobacco manu¬ 
facturers that within the next three 
years a sack of tobacco and a package 
of cigarette papers will be placed free 
in the hands of every Chinese boy 
above the age of ten. Talk about this 
being a Christian Nation! Talk about 
our efforts to show the Chinese the evils 
of foot binding while at the same time 
we are teaching them a habit that will 
bind their very souls! Talk about the 
devil being dead! Talk about the reso¬ 
lutions of the liquor dealers of the past 
to ruin the youth of this great Nation; 
it is not to be compared with the aim of 
the tobacco manufacturers of today 
who would send to hell every man and 
boy, every woman and girl in the wide 
world in order to satisfy that insatiable 
craving for the almighty dollar. The 
time has come when the thinking men 



80 


BOUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


and women of the World must realize 
that the tobacco trust is a giant octopus 
whose many arms are even now encir¬ 
cling the youth of every Nation and 
unless destroyed soon, the human race 
will become enslaved to a habit that 
cannot be broken. It will become a 
slave to an abnormal appetite—our 
bellies will be our gods! 

From the standpoint of dollars and 
cents let us further notice that the use 
of tobacco is wrong because it is a waste 
of money to the individual. A man 
who uses two twenty-five cent cigars 
per day smokes up, in fifty years, 
eleven thousand, four hundred and 
sixty-nine dollars. That is the sum he 
would have had if the money had been 
drawing interest in the bank as depos¬ 
ited daily. Beginning at the age of 
fifteen, if you will deposit in your local 
bank each day, the amount the average 
young smoker spends for cigarettes or 
cigars, when you reach the age of sixty 
you will be able to retire and live on 
the income of the money and drive a six 



BOUNDS WITH THE DEVIL 


31 


cylinder car and enjoy good health. 
Most cigarette smokers use more than 
ten cigarettes per day, but if only that 
many are used, it would be a loss of 
money for any manufacturing concern 
to employ you and allow you to smoke 
during working hours. It takes three 
minutes to roll, light and smoke each 
cigarette. Smoking ten per day at that 
rate, you cost the company fifty cents 
per day if your daily wage is at the rate 
of one dollar per hour. If a company 
were to employ a thousand such men, 
its loss would be five hundred dollars 
per day. It is for this reason that prac¬ 
tically all great manufacturing con¬ 
cerns prohibit cigarette smoking during 
working hours. 

You men expect the girls to give up 
the dance as soon as they learn its 
harm; you have no respect for an im¬ 
modestly dressed woman; you are dis¬ 
gusted whenever you see a female 
smoking (those of the fair sex who use 
tobacco are not women, just females) ; 
now, will you do your part, will you 



32 


BOUNDS WITH THE DEVIL 


give up yourself that which you know 
is wrong? Be a man! Discard the 
harmful. 

Having settled some of the other 
questions, let us take our next round 
with the devil by answering the ques¬ 
tion: 

IS IT WRONG TO ATTEND THE 
MOVIES? 

We have chosen to answer the ques¬ 
tion concerning the moving picture 
show rather than the Opera or other 
performance put on in the theatre be¬ 
cause the average .Christian already 
knows that the theatre is no place for 
him, whereas the detrimental effects of 
the moving picture show have not as 
yet been revealed as clearly. This is 
because the common movie is of a more 
recent origin and it takes years of pa¬ 
tient work to so arouse the public con¬ 
science as to remove the offending cus¬ 
tom or amusement. Such was the case 
with liquor. Prohibition came not in a 
moment; but only after years of pa- 



ROUNDS WITH THE DETIL 


/ 


tient, aggressive work and prayer on 
the part of that noble organization: 
“The Woman’s Christian Temperance 
Union.” And right here allow us to re¬ 
mark that the battle against the demon, 
rum, will have been fought in vain un¬ 
less we as a Nation enforce the laws 
most stringently and fight every at¬ 
tempt to change the licensed alcoholic 
content of beer and light wine. Let us 
not only keep this Nation absolutely 
dry but work and pray for World free¬ 
dom from the most damnable of all 
curses—the liquor traffic. Reverting 
again to this subject of the moving pic¬ 
ture show, we call your attention to the 
fact that this is the most difficult of all 
questions to answer satisfactorily, not 
only because the public conscience has 
not yet become aroused, but because 
the great majority of Americans are 
either habitual or occasional patrons of 
the movie and to condemn the movie 
means that we condemn that which is 
sanctioned by the majority of people. 
But, the fact that the majority has 
sanctioned the movie does not make the 



34 


ROUITOS WITH THE DEVIL 


movie a good institution, because in 
many instances it has been proven later 
on in history that the minority was 
right although unable to prove it at the 
time. Having promised God to stand 
for Him in every case we cannot afford 
to compromise with sin in any form 
and in as much as we believe the movie 
to be dangerous, we shall answer the 
question: “Is it wrong to attend the 
movies?” in the affirmative; just as we 
have answered the other questions. 

We believe it is wrong to attend the 
movies because the scenarios are not 
true to life. Where the plays are pro¬ 
duced, all is sham. The actors and ac¬ 
tresses wear paste jewels, their clothes 
are of the cheapest in quality, and the 
scenery is imitation. Those of you who 
have been reading the articles in “The 
Saturday Evening Post” will know that 
this is true and just recently in “The 
People’s Magazine” we saw four pages 
of colored photographs showing how 
the movie people fake scenery and 
manufacture it after photographs. 



BOUNDS WITH THE DEVIL 


35 


Most of the fine scenes that you gaze 
upon with wonder at the movie are at 
the best but cheap imitations of the real. 
Why spend time and money patroniz¬ 
ing the movie when that which is shown 
is not real ? The reel is not real! 

It is wrong to patronize the movies 
because most of the scenarios are sug¬ 
gestive. The moving picture produc¬ 
ing companies have learned that the 
public wants the cheap show. If you 
do not believe this, walk down Clark 
street in Chicago and you will see mul¬ 
titudes entering the cheap theatre. It 
is so in every City. It is human nature 
to want to see that which should not be 
seen. While walking down a street in 
Chicago not long ago, I saw a window 
coated with white paint. At first I 
thought the store was vacant but soon 
I discovered that there was a small 
round hole on the glass that was not 
covered with the paint. Over that hole 
was the statement, “For men only.” As 
I stood on that sidewalk watching the 
passing throng I saw that most of the 



BOUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


people stopped and peeked into that 
little hole. Finally, my curiosity was 
so aroused that I, too, looked and saw a 
fine display of dollar safety razors! 
That storekeeper knew human nature! 
At the University of North Dakota a 
few years ago a great outdoor celebra¬ 
tion was held. Each class and organi¬ 
zation put on a show of some kind. 
One class had a tent located in a rather 
out-of-the-way place on the campus 
with a sign over it: “Swimming match 
between two of the most popular young 
ladies.” And practically the whole tribe 
of men visitors paid ten cents to see a 
common safety match floating in a 
washtub between two fully dressed, 
modest girls! Of course it was a joke 
on the crowd but it shows that the pub¬ 
lic wants to see the spectacular and in¬ 
decent. The reason this building is 
packed and jammed to the doors to¬ 
night is because you people thought 
that we would say things out of the 
ordinary! Whenever a large crowd is 
expected in a City the movie men al¬ 
ways advertise something that is rare 



ROUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


37 


and racy. The movie men have learned 
that to fill their houses they need only 
promise to expose birth control, to show 
real pictures of the harems of Turkey 
or portray a raid upon a red light dis¬ 
trict. 

Nine tenths of the shows in America 
today are indecent. You say that we 
do not know what we are talking about ? 
While conducting a campaign in a 
leading City in Kansas we made an in¬ 
vestigation of the movies shown there, 
for we were told that all shows were of 
the highest type. What did we find? 
In the leading theatre of the City in one 
show alone we saw two very vivid bed¬ 
room scenes. We saw men and women 
dressed in sleeping garments and one 
woman shown in her bed had her gown 
practically off, showing her naked 
body! We saw one woman leaning 
over a screen in a room, talking to a 
man and her clothing was unseen. Her 
body to the waist was bare! When the 
movies showed a woman dancing, the 
pictures were enlarged so that only the 



BOUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


dancers legs and waist were shown up¬ 
on the screen. Why? So that the 
imagination of the audience might bet¬ 
ter be satisfied. So that the passions of 
the men in the audience might better be 
stirred into a flaming fire of uncontrol¬ 
lable lust. Such scenes were not shown 
alone in that one theatre. We have 
seen such things wherever we have 
gone to investigate the moving picture 
shows. In South Dakota we were 
mobbed because a returned Soldier, 
who was a disgrace to that noble Army 
of men, was not allowed to put on a 
show exposing birth control while we 
were in a certain City holding a cam¬ 
paign. So insistent was the public to 
see that show that a second attempt to 
give it resulted in a riot, with the con¬ 
sequence that several were bound over 
to the District Court charged with in¬ 
citing a riot in the State of South Da¬ 
kota. We repeat: nine tenths of the 
shows in America today are indecent. 
Some say to us: “Well, what about the 
good shows—should we go to them, 
such as book reviews ?” We say no 



BOUNDS WITH THE DEVIL 


39 


because those shows are always mixed 
up with the bad ones and are shown 
only by the movie people to get good 
people to go to their theatres once in a 
while, knowing that the general public 
will say that as long as the good people 
go there occasionally it is right to go 
all the time. Those good films are 
shown only to attract you there and get 
your presence to sanction the movie 
business. Remember your influence. 
“If meat maketh my brother to offend 
I will eat no meat” says the Apostle 
Paul. If you are unable to give up an 
occasional good show for Jesus Christ 
there certainly is something the matter 
with you as a Christian. 

The editorial writer in that most hu¬ 
morous of all magazines, “Life,” made 
the statement some time ago that cen¬ 
sorship is not satisfactory and that the 
movie is far from being what it should 
be. How can a Christian uphold the 
moving picture industry by patronizing 
it when such startling truths are 
known? By the grace of God, men 



40 


ROUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


and women, you who know that all the 
moving picture producers are after is 
the money; you who know that they in 
every case are willing to run their 
shows on Sunday whenever the State 
laws permit it; you who know that the 
majority of the shows are unfit for the 
human eye; you who are given the care 
and keeping of the child life of the Na¬ 
tion; come clean and fight this, the 
latest attraction of the devil! 

The moving picture shows should 
not be patronized because most of the 
scenarios contain hugging and kissing 
scenes. You know that this is true! 
Practically every film has at least one 
so called love scene. What is the re¬ 
sult? Simply that most movie crazy 
girls can be kissed “good night” the first 
time taken home. A kiss was once the 
most sacred emblem of true love but 
now it is just a habit! It has become 
so cheapened and commercialized by 
the movie that it is no longer a token 
of true affection. The ordinary girl 
attends the movies at the impression- 



BOUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


41 


able age and seeing the actresses kiss 
the men, she is led to believe that she 
must allow such familiarity in order to 
keep the friendship of her boy chums 
and the boys have come to know this. 
You laugh? Friend, it is only a step 
from familiarity to license and one of 
the most direct causes for the low 
standard of morality in America today 
and for the wave of licentiousness that 
is sweeping our Country fom Coast to 
Coast is the damnable familiarity 
taught so effectively by the modern 
movie. “Familiarity breeds contempt” 
and you can’t get around it. 

It is wrong to attend movies because 
many of the scenarios are ridiculous. 
Why spend fifteen or twenty cents to 
see a clown throw lemon pies at another 
fool? Why go to a movie to laugh at 
a man trying to crank a tin Lizzie when 
you can see that in any back alley or on 
any main street? The actors are asked 
to do the impossible and being unable 
to do it they seek to camouflage the act 
in such a way as to fool the public. So 



42 


BOUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


it is that actors who have been killed in 
one reel, come to life in another, and 
so it goes, just like a pup chasing his 
tail and yet you pay good money to see 
such nonsense. If you are a real Chris¬ 
tian you will be more interested in the 
heart throbs of the World than in the 
crazy actions of a fool actor in a ten 
cent movie. Prove all things; hold fast 
that which is good. We know that it 
is good to win the lost to Jesus. Do 
you know it? 

Further: it is wrong to attend the 
movies because most of the movie 
“stars” are immoral. A little study on 
your part will show that we are right 
in this statement. If the newspaper 
reports are true, then the three greatest 
of all movie “stars,” are in our estima¬ 
tion, far from being what they should 
be. We refer to she who was formerly 
Mary Pickford; her second husband, 
Douglas Fairbanks, and, Charlie Chap¬ 
lin. Licentiousness and lust are found 
in the lives of most of the actors and 
actresses. Practically all the leading 



ROUNDS WITH THE DEVIL 


43 


ones have been divorced. Most of the 
women are ,more interested in poodle 
dogs than in children. Motherhood is 
a thing unknown to most married 
movie “stars.” Friends; your children 
are but imitators. They will be to a 
great extent what circumstances make 
them. They will be moulded and fash¬ 
ioned in character by what they see and 
hear. A young girl who is allowed to 
attend the movies, soon learns to wor¬ 
ship the actresses and whatever the ac¬ 
tresses do, she sanctions. The result is 
that your little girl will be in the future 
just what her childish ideals are now. 
Character is formed in youth and you 
can not be too careful of every influ¬ 
ence upon the childish life. That boy 
of yours, worships you, Father, and if 
you sanction the life of the movie star 
by patronizing the movie, he will when 
grown, be just what influence made 
him. Our children are our greatest 
asset and it behooves the thinking men 
and women of America to hold before 
them the highest forms of ideals and to 
protect them from the childish worship 



44 


ROOTDS WITH THE DEYIL 


of false heroes and heroines. The fact 
that many crimes have been committed 
by boys imitating what they have seen 
at the movies should in itself be suffi¬ 
cient proof that the modern moving 
picture show is dangerous to child life. 

It is a proven fact that no moving 
picture habitant is successful as a soul 
winner. There is a reason for this. It 
is because the one who would win 
others to Jesus must be so wrapped up 
in the Christ as to live a separated life. 
You know that we are right when we 
say that those who partonize the movies 
are not as good Church workers as 
those who do not. That truth should 
result in keeping you away from the 
movie. If you are a real Christian; it 
will. 

Some writer along psychological 
lines has advanced the theory that the 
less brains a person has, the more 
amusement is required. It is shown 
that a new-born baby calls for much 
attention but that as he grows in age he 
requires less and less amusement so 






ROUJTOS WITH THE DEYIL 


45 


that when he is finally a man and able 
to think, no amusement is required. 
All that he needs is recreation. In as 
much as sitting in a movie theatre is not 
recreation and does not tend to relieve 
the body or brain but rather puts an 
added strain upon the eye, it would 
seem that it is to be classed with the 
amusements. And if that writer of the 
book on psychology is right, then the 
movie fiend is brainless and thought¬ 
less. He may be right—he may be 
wrong. As far as we are concerned, 
after weighing the movie in every way, 
we have found it wanting. Even the 
fact that some Churches have done 
away with the preaching of the Gospel 
and put on movies instead, does not 
prove that we are wrong. There are 
numbskulls in the Ministry, the same 
as in all other lines of work. There are 
always some Ministers who are rattle¬ 
brained enough to do as the public de¬ 
mands. Judas, one of the chosen 
twelve, sold the Christ at the request of 
the public and that thing is still being 
done. 



46 


BOUNDS WITH THE DEVIL 


We are not going to answer the 
question as to what the young people 
can safely do. That subject belongs 
to another address. We have not the 
time to discuss it here. Neither are we 
going to take time to make much of a 
comment on the common expression of 
the young people, “We must have some 
place to go; we can’t stay home.” That 
expression is extremely pathetic and is 
in many cases true—the young people 
can’t stay home because they have no 
home! In the average American house¬ 
hold, Mother belongs to so many 
Church societies, social uplift Clubs, 
personal improvement organizations 
and lodges that she has no time to make 
the home life interesting for her fam¬ 
ily; and, Father is so engrossed in his 
business, clubs and conferences and 
cronies that he has no time to be at 
home save to eat an occasional meal 
and to sleep. No wonder the young 
people have to go some place! But the 
fact that they have to go to other places 
because they have no home life does 
not make the movie a safe place. We 



ROUNDS WITH THE DEVIL 


47 


feel sympathetic toward the young peo¬ 
ple and pray that God in heaven may 
have mercy upon them and upon their 
careless and indifferent parents. 

You have listened patiently as we 
sought to answer satisfactorily the pre¬ 
vious questions and now that we are at 
the last one we feel that you will be just 
as patient and we are sure that you will 
be just as much interested, for, we are 
now face to face with the question that 
many of you came here to hear an¬ 
swered. Let us take our last round 
with the devil tonight by answering the 
question: 

IS IT WRONG TO DANCE? 

You know that we are going to say, 
yes. And we do! We say, yes! Be¬ 
cause you know what other Evangelists 
have said on this question, it will be un¬ 
necessary for us to say many things. 
Our aim tonight is not to rant and rave 
around about the dance and say things 
that are fiery and perform feats that 



48 


ROUNDS WITH THE BETEL 


are spectacular; but it is, rather, to fol¬ 
low a systematic line of logical discus¬ 
sion so that when we are thru there will 
not be one here who will have a single 
doubt as to the right or wrong of the 
modern dance. 

It is wrong to dance because dancing 
is not Scriptural. Christians take the 
Bible as their rule of life and every 
good thing in civilization has come 
from an observance of Biblical princip¬ 
les. There is not a single verse in the 
whole Bible to show that men and 
women ever danced together. It is true 
that dancing is frequently mentioned in 
the Bible; mostly in the Psalms; but 
not an instance is recorded where the 
sexes intermingled in the dance. Men 
danced with men and women danced 
with women in Biblical days, or, men 
danced alone and women danced alone. 
The dance of Biblical days was for 
the purpose of worship, usually, as an 
evidence of thankfulness to God for 
some specific goodness. If you can 
kneel down in the modern dance hall 



ROOTDS WITH THE DETEL 


49 


and tell God that you are going to 
dance the modern steps as a means of 
showing Him that you are grateful for 
Jesus Christ, your Saviour, we are mis¬ 
taken in our premise. For the real 
Christian, no other argument need be 
made against the dance. 

We believe that it is wrong to dance 
because the modern dance is based 
wholly and solely upon sex attraction. 
This is proven by the fact that any 
dance can be killed by compelling the 
men to dance with the men and the 
women with the women. It is also a 
proven fact that the modern young 
people will not dance the “classic 
dances.” In talks with dancing teach¬ 
ers in different parts of America, we 
have,been told that fact by the teach¬ 
ers, themselves. It is also true that the 
old-fashioned square dance is not used 
much in these days. There is not enuf 
opportunity in it for personal contact. 
It is true, also, that married couples sel¬ 
dom dance to any great extent. The 
marriage relationships seem to remove 



go 


ROUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


the necessity of the modern dance. In 
plain language let me say to you, 
young woman; you dance to be hugged; 
and to you, young man; you dance so 
as to hug your partner. That sounds 
blunt. Perhaps it is. At any rate it 
is true! 

Now friends, there is nothing harm¬ 
ful in the natural attraction of one sex 
for the other. It is a God given in¬ 
stinct. Upon that attraction true love 
stands supreme and unshaken and par¬ 
enthood is based. From childhood to 
old age that attraction of one sex for 
the other moulds and fashions charac¬ 
ter. He or she who claims to not be 
attracted by the opposite sex is an un¬ 
natural being. The modern dance has 
seized upon this natural action of the 
human being and thru a misuse of it 
has succeeded in bringing God’s great 
gift into the slime of sinful practices. 

There is not a dancing girl before us 
tonight that is honest but who will ad¬ 
mit that to be embraced by a young 



BOUNDS WITH THE DEVIL 


51 


man , in the modem dance, sends a thrill 
thru her whole being and produces a 
result that cannot be brot about in any 
other way. There is not an honest 
young man here but who will admit that 
as he embraces his partner in the mod¬ 
ern dance, feelings surge thru his being 
that cannot be described. Therefore, 
whether or not you have thot about it 
before, the real reason you dance is be¬ 
cause you feel the thrill of the opposite 
sex in a manner that no other action 
save marriage can produce. Now, God 
has so planned things that it is not His 
purpose that men and women should 
abuse any of His gifts and has ordained 
it that any who do must suffer the con 
sequences. When you overeat you get 
indigestion. When you overwork, you 
become excessively fatigued. An abuse 
of any organ of the body spells disaster. 
So it is with the God given attraction 
of one sex for the other. Overwork 
that gift and failure is spelled for you. 
The modern dance so abuses that nat¬ 
ural attraction of one sex for the other 
as to produce the most disastrous re- 



ROUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


52 


suits, such as gross immorality, sensu¬ 
ality, licentiousness and other forms of 
uncontrolled lust. Prove all things; 
hold fast that which is good. Think 
this matter over and you will agree 
with us that it is wrong to dance be¬ 
cause it abuses the natural attraction 
of one unmarried person for another. 

We believe that it is wrong to dance 
because the modern dance is immoral. 
Take the “waltz” for example. It was 
introduced in the year 1627 by a citizen 
of Paris, France, named Gault. This 
man was so immoral that after being 
found guilty of committing a crime 
against his own sister, he was guillo¬ 
tined. The waltz has practically been 
unchanged since that time. If any¬ 
thing, it has grown to be more volup¬ 
tuous. Ask yourself the question Jesus 
once asked: “Do men gather grapes of 
thorns, or figs of thistles?” “By their 
fruits ye shall know them” is as true 
today as ever. Think you that any 
good can come from the brothels of 
Paris? No, a thousand times, no! Then 



KOUIIDS WITH THE DETIL 


53 


we must say that it is wrong to dance; 
at least as far as the modern waltz is 
concerned. 

Next, take the “one step.” This is 
one of the most popular dances. What 
about its origin? It too, was born in 
the slums of Paris, moved to the ten¬ 
derloin district of New York; finally 
found its way into the red light dis¬ 
tricts of the Pacific Coast and is now 
danced by those who call themselves 
Christians! In the name of Christ, 
Christians, think! Prove all things; 
hold fast that which is good. It is a 
comparatively easy thing to prove that 
the dance is bad because it is immoral. 
All we need to do is to ask for statistics 
regarding the number of fallen women 
in the United States. From reliable 
statistics secured from various sources, 
we are able to say without fear of suc¬ 
cessful contradiction, that four-fifths 
of the prostitutes fell as a result of the 
dance! Think of it; four out of every 
five of the fallen women of America 
have gone down because of the dance 



ROUNDS WITH THE DEVIL 


54 


and yet some people who call them¬ 
selves Christians try to uphold the 
amusement! Surely they must be 
blind or under satanic control! It is a 
fact admitted by all who have studied 
the subject, that all prostitutes are good 
dancers. The reason is, that to dance 
well, the whole body must be yielded to 
the partner. Because of this, beginners 
who are naturally modest, are not as 
good dancers as those who have stifled 
all the finer feelings and who yield 
every portion of their body to their 
partner in the round dance. Modesty 
and good dancing do not, can not, go 
together. 

We believe that it is wrong to dance 
because the modern dance is physically 
wrong. In proving this point we first 
quote another: Dr. Winfield Scott Hall 
in his book entitled: “Sex Training in 
the Home” who says on page 101 of 
that book: “The modern one step, hes¬ 
itation and tango are suggestive and 
seductive; while the fox trot, turkey 
trot, bunny hug, etc., are abominable.” 



ROUNDS WITH THE DEVIL 


55 


Remember that Evangelists are fre¬ 
quently accused by brainless people, 
the devil’s agents, with preaching 
against the dance for pecuniary rea¬ 
sons, but we have just quoted you a 
statement from one of the foremost and 
eminent authorities of the whole Medi¬ 
cal World and one who has never been 
referred to as being fanatical along re¬ 
ligious lines. Some of the dances men¬ 
tioned in that statement are out of date 
now. More damnable steps have been 
devised than those. The dancers now 
“shimmy” and dance the “cat step” and 
go thru exactly the same contortions as 
those who invented the hellish things 
must when they attempt to walk over 
the red hot brimstones in hell itself! 
The modern dance is wrong because it 
tends to the keeping of late hours. You 
rarely ever hear of a dance ending be¬ 
fore midnight and most of them con¬ 
tinue until the sun begins to rise. In¬ 
deed, the dance, we have been told, 
goes better, that is, faster and more 
hellish and enjoyable, after twelve 
o’clock than before. And we believe 



56 


BOUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


it! To any one who understands the 
needs of the human body in the way of 
rest, relaxation, sleep; the dance is con¬ 
demned. We believe that the dance is 
wrong because the rooms are rarely 
ever properly ventilated. This is as 
true of the private dance in the home 
as it is of the one held on the public 
ball room floor. Fresh air must be 
breathed if one is to enjoy perfect 
health and we are certain that it can not 
be found as well at the dance as in a 
morning stroll in God’s great outdoors. 

The modern dance is not physically 
right because of the position assumed 
in it and because of the modern dance 
music. Photographs of Mr. and Mrs. 
Vernon Castle as reproduced in the 
February 1919 issue of “Everybody’s 
Magazine” show it to be true. They 
were the recognized model dancers of 
the World. They were the dancers who 
excited the envy of all other dancers 
and who served as examples for multi¬ 
tudes of ambitious beginners. An in¬ 
vestigation of the positions assumed in 



ROUNDS WITH THE DETIL 


57 


your own City on the public ball room 
floor and on the private dance floor, 
will prove it. The modern dance can 
best be described as a competition in 
bunny hugging. Note that we do not 
differentiate between the public dance 
and the private dance because the same 
steps are danced in each case. If I were 
to embrace, immediately after being in¬ 
troduced to you tonight, one of you 
girls the way you allow the young men 
to embrace you after a cursory intro¬ 
duction on a ball room floor, either 
public or private, this crowd would mob 
me and I would be picked up tomorrow 
morning on a blotter by your Chief of 
Police! And it would serve me right! 
What I want to know is; why is it right 
to do it on the ball room floor at a pub¬ 
lic dance and wrong at a revival meet¬ 
ing in a Church? There is only one 
answer. It is wrong in both places and 
you know it! 

People say to us: “I can dance and it 
does not hurt me.” All I have to say is 
that any man who can embrace a girl 




ROUNDS WITH THE DETTL 


58 


who wears less clothes than a louse; 
hold her close to his breast; feel her hot 
breath on his cheek; feel her arms about 
his neck and dance the modern steps in 
an overheated room to that alluring, 
syncopated, hypnotic jazz music, in the 
presence of voluptuous couples as they 
roll by in a steady stream, is not hu¬ 
man! There is something the matter 
with him! If he were a man with the 
passions of a man he would fall wheth¬ 
er he wanted to or not! I repeat it in 
the presence of God Almighty, a real 
red blooded man or woman can not 
dance the modern dance and not fall! 
It is contrary to human nature! I do 
not distinguish here between the public 
dance and the private dance, either, be¬ 
cause while you can chaperon the steps 
at a private dance, you can not chap¬ 
eron the human thought. And—no 
one will dance the properly chaperoned 
steps because to chaperon the dance 
means that you rob it of its very life; 
you take from it the sensual pleasure 
which is the very heart of the modem 
dance. But, in case you do not agree 



ROUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


59 


with me, let me use an illustration to 
answer your argument. 

I have on this pulpit, in your sight, 
two bottles filled with a clear, white 
liquid. One on the right; the other on 
the left. One bottle contains a ninety- 
five per cent solution of carbolic acid. 
It is a deadly poison. The other bottle 
contains pure water. It is harmless. 
Both bottles look alike. You cannot 
tell one from the other. I challenge 
you; you who take a chance on the ball 
room floor! Come on down the aisle 
and take a drink from one of the bot¬ 
tles! Come on; come on; come on and 
take a drink! One is absolutely harm¬ 
less. One is a deadly poison. You do 
not know which one contains water and 
which one contains poison, but come 
on! You could take a drink out of the 
one filled with water and live. Why 
don’t you come? Why don’t you take 
a chance ? What—you say you are not 
a fool? You say that only a fool would 
take that chance? You are right! But 
notice; the chances are evenly divided 



ROUNDS WITH THE DEYIL 


in this case—they are fifty fifty but in 
the case of the dance the chances are 
four to one that you will fall! And yet 

you take the chance with the dance! 
My God, what is the matter with you; 
can’t you see that it is wrong to dance ? 
Now, right now, you Christians take 
your stand against the dance, take your 
stand against the whole damnable busi¬ 
ness; stand up and show me that you 
know it is wrong to dance. And you 
who have been dancing in the past but 
will now give it up, come on down the 
aisle and prove to the World that you 
will, by the grace of God, give up that 
deadly amusement. Come on—don’t 
wait, come on-. 


The end. 





LJLtSKHKY Uh CUNUKLSS 



































